The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced today that University of Louisville women’s basketball center Josie Williams is one of 20 watch list candidates for the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award. Named after the three-time All-American,1994 National Player of the Year and Class of 2015 Hall of Famer, the annual award in its sixth year recognizes the top centers in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball
Williams comes to the Cardinals after beginning her collegiate career at Utah Valley. In her final two seasons with the Wolverines, she was selected to the All-WAC first team both seasons. In her senior season, she set a program single season record with 24 double-doubles, which was tied for fourth in the country that season. She averaged 17.3 points per game and 12.4 rebounds per game in her senior season. The 12.4 rebounds per game were the second-highest in program history for a single season and it ranked fifth overall in the NCAA last season.
Louisville is one of just three teams and the only ACC school to have a player named to all five positional watch lists this season. Chrislyn Carr was named to the Lieberman Award Watch List, Hailey Van Lith was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List, Morgan Jones was named to the Cheryl Miller Award Watch List and Olivia Cochran was named to the Katrina McClain Award Watch List.
Fans are encouraged to participate in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, in each of the three rounds starting today, October 21. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just five. In March the five finalists will be presented to Leslie and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.
The winner of the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award will be presented on a to be determined date, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward) and the Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward), in addition to the Men’s Starting Five.
Previous winners of the Lisa Leslie Award are Aliyah Boston, South Carolina (2020-22), Megan Gustafson, Iowa (2019) and A’ja Wilson, South Carolina (2018).
For more information on the 2023 Lisa Leslie Award and the latest updates, visit hoophallawards.com and follow @hoophall and #LeslieAward on Twitter and Instagram.
2023 Lisa Leslie Award Candidates*
Quay Miller, Colorado
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Kennedy Brown, Duke
Francesca Belibi, Stanford
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Lauren Betts, Stanford
Monika Czinano, Iowa
Tamari Key, Tennessee
Josie Williams, Louisville
Taylor Jones, Texas
Jessika Carter, Mississippi State
Ila Lane, UC Santa Barbara
Alexis Markowski, Nebraska
Dorka Juhasz, UConn
Lauren Ebo, Notre Dame
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech
Sedona Prince, Oregon
Emma Grothaus, Washington
Lucy Cochrane, Portland
Bella Murekatete, Washington State
*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2022-23 season
About Lisa Leslie:
Widely regarded as the best player in the country during her senior year of high school, Leslie decided to play basketball close to home at University of Southern California. While at USC, she set Pac-10 records for scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, earning All-Pac-10 honors each of her four seasons. In 1991, she was named national freshman of the year and went on to earn All-American Honors the following three seasons. In her senior season, she won multiple national player of the year awards, including the Naismith College Player of the Year and the WBCA Player of the Year. In the summer of 1997, the Women’s National Basketball Association was launched and with it, Lisa Leslie became a household name. The Los Angeles Sparks landed the hometown star, who would go on to help them win two world championships. As an eight-time All-Star and three-time MVP, Leslie became the face of the WNBA. In 2002, she became the first player to dunk in a WNBA game. Leslie retired as the all-time leading rebounder in WNBA history and was an eight-time First Team All-WNBA performer. Internationally, Leslie won four gold medals in Olympic competition. Since retiring from professional play, Leslie has worked as a sports commentator and analyst for several networks, while exploring fashion modeling and acting as well.
About the WBCA:
Founded in 1981, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. For more information, visit us online: WBCA.org, follow @wbca1981 or call 1-770-279-8027.
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was born, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and celebrating the game of basketball at every level – men and women, amateur and professional players, coaches and contributors, both domestically and internationally. The Hall of Fame museum is home to more than 400 inductees and over 40,000 square feet of basketball history. Nearly 200,000 people visit the Hall of Fame museum each year to learn about the game, experience the interactive exhibits and test their skills on the Jerry Colangelo “Court of Dreams.” Best known for its annual marquee Enshrinement Ceremony honoring the game’s elite, the Hall of Fame also operates over 70 high school and collegiate competitions annually throughout the country and abroad. For more information on the Basketball Hall of Fame organization, its museum and events, visit hoophall.com, follow @hoophall or call 1-877-4HOOPLA.
Basketball Hall of Fame Media Contact
Patrick O’Connell, Position Sports // mediarelations@positionsports.com
